Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in The Collegian, Grove City College’s student newspaper, on Feb. 7, 2014.

Baseball is a beautiful sport. Many writers have waxed poetic on the subject, and worthily so.

Summer calls in the smell of leather; the cracking and popping of the ball in mitt and on bat; the batter marking his territory in the dirt.

As I write, a large cap of snow sits mockingly on every large patch of grass. The arm of the true baseball fanatic begs for the ache that comes after a half hour long toss. Their legs long to stretch out across a field, any field, to run after the ball in flight.

Major league pitchers and catchers report to spring training tomorrow — not a moment too soon, as the football season came to a dreadfully one-sided end Sunday night. (N.B. the editor’s note here.)

Yet it’s funny how long a third of a year can seem. The satisfying pop in a glove a month or two from now will be the assurance that the painful months of waiting are ending at long last. Continue reading “Winter’s remedy, summer’s sport” →